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Notes in iOS 13 adds a gallery view, shared folders, and more

2019 June 11

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Apple tasked itself with bringing new features to the stock Notes app, and with iOS 13 the company has achieved that goal.

Notes is getting a handful of tweaks and updates, bringing new features to the mix, while improving other standard features as well. The changes will be arriving later this year when Apple launches iOS 13, which Apple unveiled at this year’s WWDC.

Here’s a quick overview of what to expect when the new Notes experience arrives this fall.

Gallery View

The new gallery view, which you can see in the header image in this article, is one of the biggest changes to the stock Notes app. This allows for users to see their notes as visual thumbnails, which can make navigation a bit faster. Apple points out that this particular feature makes it even easier to find notes that feature images, sketches, or handwritten notes made with the Apple Pencil.

Folders & Collaboration

Notes is getting shared folders with iOS 13. This means that users will be able to grant access to certain folders, and those who are given access will be able to add their own notes, attachments, and even subfolders.

As mentioned above, there are new organization options, including folders and subfolders. Users will be able to easily manage how these folders are organized in their lists, too.

Finally, view-only collaboration is also a new feature with the stock Notes app. This will allow a user to share a folder and all of its contents with someone, but only gives them the ability to view that content and not actually change anything about it.

A More Powerful Search & Checklists

Organization is all well and good, but being able to quickly search for something –and actually find it– is just as important. That’s why Apple is improving this aspect of Notes as well. With iOS 13, Notes will recognize the images inside a note, and search can also help a user find specific text from documents you’ve scanned, including receipts.

And finally, new checklist options. Using drag-and-drop, users will be able to quickly and easily rearrange a checklist. Users will also be able to swipe to indent, and can quickly move a checked item to the bottom of the list. There will also be an option to unselect all the items in a checklist if you’ve decided you want to do the items again.

Better Notes, Better Management

Notes has always been a worthwhile app for the most part, even if it has paled in comparison to some other third-party options out there. But the changes that Apple is making to the stock app with iOS 13 seem worthwhile enough. Can it bring you away from your third-party note-taking app of choice, though? What do you think?